Environment
chief calls for progress on carbon trading
at crunch climate summit
The Copenhagen Summit
must not be the last word in achieving a
climate change solution – rather it is the
“crucial start” for doing so, Environment
Agency Chairman Lord Smith will say tomorrow.
In his keynote address
at the Environment Agency’s annual Conference
in London, Lord Chris Smith will call for
a reality check and an acknowledgement that
“a signed and sealed treaty with clear targets
and measurable rapid reductions in emissions”
is unlikely to be achieved in December,
but must remain a goal for 2010.
He will say that an
agreement of principles and commitments
at Copenhagen which has “cap and trade”
mechanisms as its cornerstone will “at least
give us a chance of beating the worst that
climate change might bring.”
Lord Smith will say
Copenhagen “won’t solve all the issues.
Some of the most significant emissions countries
aren’t yet ready to conclude a deal – not
least the US, where the Senate won’t have
made its decisions until the New Year.
“What we have to aim
for, though, is a number of clear “in principle”
decisions, agreed by the participating nations,
with a commitment to agree actions arising
from those principles in the course of the
following nine months. The commitment both
to principles and to action must be genuine,
and there must be a determination to move
forward with urgency.
“Much of the focus of
comment around the world has been on the
development of ‘cap and trade’, to use economic
incentives to change carbon-intensive behaviour.
And I believe that cap and trade has to
be a key part of the overall approach to
reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.
“It’s not a perfect
mechanism, and it takes time to develop.
We know that, of course, from the current
European emissions-trading scheme, which
the Environment Agency administers here
in the UK. At present it has little impact
on actual emissions. That’s because the
way it has been introduced has kept the
cap high, the price of carbon that results
relatively low, and with large quantities
of free credit available within the system.
“But as the scheme moves
into its Phase 3 in 2013, that will begin
to change. And over time, as the cap tightens
and the carbon price rises, it will become
more effective. It will only become properly
effective, though, when business has both
a realistic and a certain carbon price to
factor into its planning. “
But the Environment
Agency Chairman will underline that the
Copenhagen talks will fail to deliver if
they focus solely on one issue.
Lord Smith will warn:
“Cap and trade is not the only show in town.
And there’s much else that needs to be agreed:
Flows of funds from north to south. Incentives
to preserve forest and peatland cover and
to prevent deforestation. Action to tackle
emissions of other greenhouse gases. Some
infinitely more powerful in effect than
carbon dioxide.
“And committing ourselves
in each country to use a whole range of
different tools – government action and
procurement, regulation, economic and fiscal
incentives, business responsibility, advice
and education – to bring about change.”
Media enquiries: Scarlett
Elworthy on 020 7863 8617 or outside normal
office hours, please contact the National
Duty Press Officer on 07798 882 092.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
• Video clips and transcripts
of Lord Chris Smith’s speech will be available
from 10.00 Monday 9 November
• To arrange an interview contact the National
Press Office please contact Scarlet Elworthy
on 020 7863 8617.
